Key Themes & Exam Technique
Exam Format Overview
The Pride and Prejudice question is the 19th-century prose question, worth 40 marks. It assesses AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4. The exam is closed text, so you will not have the novel in front of you. You choose one question from two: an extract-based question that links to the whole novel, or a discursive question. Spend about an hour on it.
Both question types require clear argument, embedded quotations, and woven Assessment Objectives. Strong answers analyse Austen’s methods (irony, free indirect discourse, dialogue, symbolism) and embed Regency context within that analysis.
AO1 = ideas and textual references. AO2 = analysis of methods and effects. AO3 = understanding of context. AO4 = accurate, well-controlled writing. AO1, AO2 and AO3 need to be woven together, not as separate sections.
Structuring an Analytical Response
Use the WHAT-HOW-WHY model: WHAT (state your point, AO1), HOW (analyse method with quotation, AO2), WHY (embed context, AO3). Begin with a clear thesis and aim for 4–5 analytical paragraphs, adjusting to the time you are given for the question.
Common mistakes: retelling the plot, bolting on context as a separate paragraph, writing about the novel without naming techniques. Every sentence should analyse Austen’s methods and their effects within a sustained argument.
Pride: “tolerable, but not handsome enough” — “My good opinion once lost is lost for ever.” Prejudice: “I could easily forgive his pride” — “Till this moment I never knew myself.” Marriage: “I ask only a comfortable home” — “You are too generous to trifle with me.” Class: “Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?”
Quotation Skills
Memorise short embedded quotations per theme: pride (“tolerable, but not handsome enough”), prejudice (“I could easily forgive his pride”), self-knowledge (“Till this moment I never knew myself”), marriage (“I ask only a comfortable home”), class (“Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?”).
Plot retelling: The reader already knows the story. Bolted-on context: embed it within analysis. Missing AO2: always name techniques (irony, free indirect discourse, dialogue) and explain their effect.
Short embedded quotations are more effective than long passages. Memorise 2–3 per theme and practise weaving them into analytical sentences.